There’s an exciting aspect of writing novels that I have become addicted to: research. I love learning about new things, places, people, events, science and the list goes on. But there’s a side effect to this grand adventure in expanding your brain: awareness.
Wanted Hero has been on my mind and on my lips as stories for children and adults alike for years, but it never occured to me, being a story with a great deal of humor, obnoxiousness, puns, danger and magic, that aspects of it truly didn’t make sense. It’s still a great story in my own opinion, but I want you to lose yourself in the adventures. Show you the wonderful cities and ancient glyphs, ride the wild beasts of forgotten realms…and believe in the end that it just might exist after all.
That takes more than just smiling when a clever reader asks you ‘why?‘ or ‘how is that possible?‘ The answer can’t always be “it’s magic“. Not only does that become anticlimactic, it’s flat out lame IMO.
Enter “the wife”. The brilliant woman who says I’m the creator, but she’s the ‘organizer‘. When I got out the years of notes to do the novel series, we agreed that no matter how long it took to release the first book, it would be the foundation to set the stage for the rest of the adventure. A sure and solid foundation that worked, made sense and instilled a “WOW!” factor when it came to the Universe. It also meant, however, that I had to realize that many of the creations I had developed and even used in the comic version of the story, simply didn’t work.
So where a simple revision might take days, weeks or even months, this has become a daily adventure as a writer. So far I have written the equivalent of nearly four times the size of the novel itself (which is roughly 120,000 words), just in NOTES. And we’re not done yet.
Today was the biggest discovery so far, though I’m SO grateful it’s getting worked out. The Universe. Studying how stars work, their classifications, light, distance, habitable planets, etc….ALL tell me that my desire to have a single system with the multiple planets doesn’t work. At least not in the fashion this story is meant to be told. Ouch.
The answer? I now have to rewrite the entire structure and foundation history the story was based on and what The Great Sundering means, the events, people, cultures, conflicts and the end results of where the colonies end up. Do I create a universe for all 13 worlds now? Do I create a special planet with unique dynamics? Double and TRIPLE Ouch.
Best part is, the deadline is Monday!!
It’s been a loooong week and I know I had the intention to release the preview today, but the foundation has to be right or I would never forgive myself…and neither would you. “Jaime Buckley is a moron! He didn’t even get the functions of a solar system right!!” Yeah, I don’t want to have that experience.
So hang tight my friends, this just gets better and better and I assure you, you’re going to be impressed. The good news is, this is the foundation–the other novels will go much faster once all this has been worked out!
Memo to Self: Don’t forget to buy milk, eggs, wash van, then destroy the Universe.
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